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Omaha Steve

(99,499 posts)
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 08:26 PM Apr 2012

Delta (Air Lines) buys a refinery in bid to cut its fuel bill

Source: AP-Excite

By JOSHUA FREED

Delta Air Lines is buying a refinery in a novel - and some say risky - attempt to slice $300 million a year from its escalating jet fuel bill.

The Atlanta airline said Monday that is buying the Trainer, Pennsylvania refinery near Philadelphia for $150 million from Phillips 66 (PSXWI), a refining company being spun off from ConocoPhillips. (COP) The refinery has struggled to make money, and ConocoPhillips planned to shut it down if it couldn't find a buyer.

So why is Delta buying it?

Fuel has become the largest and most volatile expense for most airlines, including Delta. U.S. airlines paid an average of $2.86 a gallon for jet fuel last year, up from $2.09 in 2007, according to the Bureau of Transportation statistics. Nobody likes to see the price of gas climb, but for airlines consuming billions of gallons a year, it can be downright crippling. Consider this: Delta's planes burned through 3.9 billion gallons of fuel last year, costing the airline $11.8 billion - 36 percent of its operating expenses.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120430/D9UFHHI03.html

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Delta (Air Lines) buys a refinery in bid to cut its fuel bill (Original Post) Omaha Steve Apr 2012 OP
$2.86 a gallon? Fearless Apr 2012 #1
That's last year's price. Psephos Apr 2012 #4
Do you have a link? I'm curious. Fearless Apr 2012 #7
Here ya go... Psephos Apr 2012 #10
Thanks for the info... Fearless Apr 2012 #11
No prob. :) Psephos Apr 2012 #12
Interesting! n?t Fearless Apr 2012 #13
They also get a deal because they buy in bulk. harun Apr 2012 #6
Oh I know. Fearless Apr 2012 #8
I wonder how long it will take for them to realize that this 2on2u Apr 2012 #2
Great idea, but . . . aggiesal Apr 2012 #3
Hey, I'm going to buy a grocery store! And a power company, too! Sabriel Apr 2012 #5
Vertical Integration is back slackmaster Apr 2012 #9

Psephos

(8,032 posts)
10. Here ya go...
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 11:16 PM
Apr 2012
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/economics/fuel_monitor/Pages/index.aspx

Prices are based on Platts data (a reliable source for energy prices).

2012 average price so far is $135.1/barrel. 1 barrel holds 42 gallons. $135.1/42 rounds to $3.22/gallon.

Psephos

(8,032 posts)
12. No prob. :)
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 11:30 PM
Apr 2012

By the way, the price difference is largely due to two things. 1) Taxes, and 2) the fraction of crude petroleum that is made into Jet A is less economically valuable. Jet A is essentially fancy kerosene.

 

2on2u

(1,843 posts)
2. I wonder how long it will take for them to realize that this
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 08:34 PM
Apr 2012

will be an option someday.... perhaps they could help push this forward in some way.

#!

aggiesal

(8,907 posts)
3. Great idea, but . . .
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 08:36 PM
Apr 2012

I'm willing to bet that ticket prices will NOT go down.
Pilots, Flight Attendants & Mechanics will still not be
allowed to start a union.
Or, if they already have a union, they will try to bust it.

Sabriel

(5,035 posts)
5. Hey, I'm going to buy a grocery store! And a power company, too!
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 10:43 PM
Apr 2012

Heck, why not my own gas station?

It's nice that airlines have enough money that they can just buy their own supply infrastructure.

There's something very Mad Max-ish about that article. And that scares me.

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